CLEMSON, S.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that defensive end Will Heldt (ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week) and kicker Nolan Hauser (ACC Specialist of the Week) have earned ACC weekly honors in their respective categories for their performances Saturday against Virginia Tech.
The selections push Clemson's number of ACC weekly honors this season to eight. The Tigers have now garnered a total of 600 ACC weekly awards since 1968.
Heldt's selection is his second of the season and second of his career, joining his recognition for Clemson's victory against North Carolina in September. Though nine different Clemson linemen have combined for 14 ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors in the last 10 seasons, Heldt became the first Clemson defensive lineman to earn multiple selections in a single season since All-American Clelin Ferrell did so in 2017.
Last week, Heldt recorded a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks, the fourth such game of his career. It marked the third game this season in which he has posted 2.0 sacks, tied with North Carolina's Xavier Lewis for the most in the nation.
Heldt led Clemson as the Tigers recorded a season-high six sacks against Virginia Tech, its most since last November against Florida State (six). Heldt became the fifth player in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure to record at least three games in a single season with 2.0 or more sacks, joining Da’Quan Bowers (five in 2010), Andre Branch (three in 2011), Vic Beasley (four in 2013) and Clelin Ferrell (three in 2018).
Hauser becomes the first player in Clemson history to win four ACC Specialist of the Week honors in a single season and the first Clemson player to win four ACC weekly awards of any kind since Trevor Lawrence in 2020. Hauser is now a six-time recipient of ACC weekly honors for his career, tying Steve Fuller, Woodrow Dantzler and Will Shipley for the 10th-most in program history.
Hauser went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts against Virginia Tech, including field goals of 34, 49 and 36 yards. The Lou Groza Award candidate also punted twice, including a career-long 63-yard punt in the second quarter that pinned Virginia Tech at its own 3-yard line.
According to Stats Perform, Hauser became the first FBS player to kick three or more field goals and register a 60-plus-yard punt in a single game since 2021. With a field goal long of 49 and a punt long of 63, he also became the fifth FBS player since 2004 (and first since 2014) to record a field goal of 49 or more yards and a punt of 63 or more yards in a single game.
This week, the Tigers will return to the site of Hauser's first career ACC Specialist of the Week honor — Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla. — where Hauser converted five field goals in a Clemson win over Florida State in 2024. Clemson's game at Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 31, will kick off at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.